Disasters are by definition rare and unpredictable and therefore not front and centre when executives think about day to day operational activities. Yet an information technology disaster can strike any business, and the costs to recover from such an event can be tremendous. As with many risks, the probability of a disaster affecting your company’s information technology infrastructure can be mitigated, and so can the fallout should the worst happen. One of the best ways to reduce the damage is to have a well-designed and tested disaster recovery plan (DRP) in place.

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery are almost inseparable these days. Some people even use them interchangeably. But did you know that, while they’re closely related, they’re actually not one and the same?

Knowing the difference between business continuity and disaster recovery is important. You’ll need it when you set out to address risks to your business’ availability and uptime. Will you be needing a business continuity plan? Or just a disaster recovery plan? Before seeking support from management or the board of trustees for your BC/DR project, you need to know exactly what you’re talking about.

Lies, damned lies, and statistics…

For many years, the IT industry has used the threat of going out of business as a way of compelling businesses to invest in backup and Disaster Recovery solutions. Essentially, there has been more than a little scaremongering about the risk of failing to back up data properly and putting appropriate plans in place for disaster recovery.